UK couple gassed, robbed while sleeping in motorhome

(Oct. 24, 2013) -- A Southwick couple who fear they were gassed by crooks while they slept in their motorhome were left stranded in France for two weeks after robbers stole their keys, money and passports, reports The Argus.

SOUTHWICK, England — A Southwick couple who fear they were gassed by crooks while they slept in their motorhome were left stranded in France for two weeks after robbers stole their keys, money and passports, reports The Argus.

Mervyn Bryant, who was holidaying with his wife Kirsty in the south of France, said they were burgled at a service station about 12 miles north of Avignon on the main auto route.

Bryant said: “Amazingly I didn’t know anything had been taken until I started moving around the motorhome. It was only when we spoke to other campers that we were told about crooks moving around the south of France and gassing people while they sleep before they take their things.”

Luckily, owners of a camp site in Remoulins let them stay for two weeks and pay when they eventually returned home on Oct. 12, writes The Argus.

One comment

We was gassed too in the south of france on a very well known campsite in 2011. We actually caught them in the act. They were putting the gas through the air vent in the floor with a ribbed hose pipe. We had gas alarms luckily so they went off straight away. Trust me the gas that was used stinks. It had such a strong smell to it and when we were outside the motorhome it smelt there too. We too believed that the gassing stories were just that, but until it happens to you, you can not comment. The gas pipe was run from a car that was just on the other side of the hedge on our pitch. We didn’t actually realise that we was parked next to a lane as the bushes and trees completely covered it. Gassing happens all over the south of france including gassing of properties etc. Many famous people have had this happen in their own home in the south. If you can speak French then read the French newspapers, they have many articles on it and how they do it. The police know it happens but they do not want to make a big deal about it because of the tourist trade. We have never wild camped and yet we was still gassed. The only reason we bought gas alarms is that we have small children and we wanted to be safe. Unfortunately the following year we was robbed again in a car park and they took everything apart from our clothes, and all this was done in 30 seconds. We walked across a car park at a supermarket and decided that we needed to go back to the motorhome for something and realised that the alarm was going off as we got nearer(noisy road next to us). We thought our dog had set it off only to find the contents of our van had been removed. Apparently they park a van next to your motorhome and empty what they can into it. Police came and said it happens all day every day. We told them about being gassed the previous year and they just shrugged and said “it happens”. So please do take precautions where you can, we have met numerous couples since who have had similar things happen, in motorhomes and caravans and even in tents. They seem to really make a mess of the caravans when they break into them but in the motorhomes they seem to always come in through the drivers door (with a screw driver). In the tents they simply slit the canvas. Whether you have children or not, these monsters do not care.

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